Kurl-On Malala Yousafzai Bounce Back - print ad India

Kurl-on's latest ad uses Malala's ordeal to sell mattresses. Yes, Malala Yousafzai, the brave young Pakistani activist who got shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to attend school and championing all girls rights to education. "Bounce back" is the headline, and while it's true that she miraculously survived the assassination attempt, this is hardly something to make cutesy illustrations of. Oh India, your advertising culture is a fascinating mess at times. Fascinating.

Ogilvy & Mather's India spokesman Greg Carton said to the Daily Mail:

'The recent Kurl-On ads from our India office are contrary to the beliefs and professional standards of Ogilvy & Mather and our clients.
'We deeply regret this incident and want to personally apologise to Malala Yousafzai and her family.'
'We are investigating how our standards were compromised in this case and will take whatever corrective action is necessary.
'In addition, we have launched a thorough review of our approval and oversight processes across our global network to help ensure that our standards are never compromised again.'
'This was a paid client campaign and only the Steve Jobs piece ran in a local newspaper in India a few weeks ago.
'The Malala piece has never been in paid media - nor will it be.'

Ad agency: Ogilvy, India